MLAs pay to be cut by 27.5% from January 1
By David Young, PA
The Northern Ireland Secretary confirmed a pay cut for Stormont Assembly members will come into force in January as he moved to further extend an election deadline in the region.
Chris Heaton-Harris will reduce MLA salaries by 27.5% on January 1 to reflect the fact that they are not doing their job as legislators during the ongoing powersharing impasse.
In an interview with the PA news agency, Mr Heaton-Harris did not rule out a further cut if the deadlock at Stormont continues.
On Thursday, the Cabinet minister also triggered an option to extend a deadline to form a new devolved Executive in Belfast by a further six weeks.
An original deadline to establish a new Executive lapsed on October 28, at which point the Government assumed a legal responsibility to hold a snap Assembly election within 12 weeks.
Last month, Mr Heaton-Harris extended that deadline by six weeks, with the option of a further six-week extension.
The first six-week window ended on Thursday and the Northern Ireland Secretary has laid a statutory instrument at Westminster to invoke the further extension to January 19.
Under the present legislation, that means an election would need to take place by April 13 if a new Stormont Executive is not formed by the fresh January deadline.
A DUP boycott of devolution in protest at Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol is preventing the Assembly and Executive from operating.
The party has said it will not return to powersharing until decisive action is taken to remove the protocol's economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Negotiations between the UK Government and the EU to resolve differences over the protocol are continuing.
Announcing the timeline for cutting MLA pay, Mr Heaton-Harris told PA: "I've written to members of the Assembly today to inform them that, as of 1st January, I'll be cutting their pay by 27.5%, which I've got the legal basis for."
He added: "I think there is justification for cutting their pay. It's only a cut of 27.5% at this point in time, I'm going to keep that under review.
"There was a lot of pressure in Parliament to go further, but I have the legal basis to do the 27.5% cut."
Mr Heaton-Harris acknowledged that politicians in the region might not be taking the shifting election deadlines seriously.
"I'm not convinced politicians are taking them seriously, but I think people do," he said.
"Actually, people are really genuinely concerned that their Assembly isn't up and running and their Executive is not making the decisions they need it to, for the health service, for education and everything here.
"Pretty much everybody I speak to does know what the next date for the next deadline is. So, yeah, people take them seriously; whether politicians do is a different matter."
Asked if he would move again to change the legislation if the January 19 deadline passes without an Executive in place, he said: "There's only so many times you can kick this can down the road. And I think everybody realises that."
Mr Heaton-Harris reiterated his view that a breakthrough in the negotiations between the UK and EU over the protocol could be imminent.
"I believe we're having a very positive set of talks," he said. "And I'm hopeful things will move forward quite quickly."
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